What would you recommend to a 13-year-old girl?

I am currently reading a book that my father and brother both recommended. I am at a loss for what to read next...

Have you been to the Read YA Lit group yet? There are some great reads mentioned on the threads there. The link to the group is here: http://www.librarything.com/groups/readyalit

As far as recommendations, have you read Sarah Dessen before? She's one of my favorite teen authors. That Summer and Someone Like You were adapted into the Mandy Moore movie, How to Deal, but my favorite is The Truth about Forever. All her books are fantastic, though.

Another good way to find books is to search through tags. Books tagged young adult are probably pretty good for someone in your age range. Here's a list of some of the books in this tag: http://www.librarything.com/tag/young+adult

Hope that helps!

ETA: Went to your profile page and noticed you're new. Welcome to LibraryThing! I hope you enjoy it; it's a fantastic site!

Aw, come on...what about Austen, the Brontes, Gaskell, Dickens -- something with a bit more substance?

Start with Emma by Jane Austen, and go from there.

Perfect for your age:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

And of the classics, personally I'd go with Dracula, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.

>3 cornerhouse:, Those are all fantastic classical authors (and I love them all). I was just trying to suggest something a little more contemporary. And recent publication as a young adult novel doesn't necessarily suggest a lack of substance. Some of the most thought-provoking books I've read this year are books aimed at teenagers and young adults.

However, if the OP is interested in more classical reads, Emma is a great start. I also really enjoyed The Three Musketeers when I was her age- adventure, intrigue, romance, all in one neat package.

At the risk of sounding terribly un-PC, I'd also suggest both Stevenson and Kipling, when it comes to classics. Great adventure, interesting characters, and a completely different world from that of today.

At thirteen I liked:
Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
I capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkein
anything by David Eddings - more wizards etc oohh and Tamora Pierce on that note.
I was re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series and Little Women series (and I still do now!)
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

I was about 14 or 15 when I started to like Historical fiction and read books by:
Jean M. Auel
Phillipa Gregory
Diana Gabaldon
Sara Donati

This is a tricky one. I would be helpful if we knew what this 13 yr old like to read. There are only three books listed in her library. I have a daughter who will be 13 next month. She likes to read but is no way read to read Jane Austin much less Gabaldon. I asked her what books she would recommend to someone her age and she said. City of Ember (which her whole class read before going to see the movie) and any of the "Dear America" books. Some kids at 13 are ready for the more mature books and some aren't

Take a look at Life as We Knew It and The Dead and Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer. They are parallel novels and both very good. Life as We Knew It needs to be read first; it has more explanation in it than the other book.

I definitely second the recommendations for To Kill a Mockingbird and Little Women. Those are hard to beat!

since >1 Mustasheman: you have the Warren Zevon bio..in your Library...and since i remember Warren Zevon's music when it was New...might i suggest Cruddy by Lynda Berry..and The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler...and anything popular by Eoin Colfer...

that's it, ducky!

I guess it depends what sort of books the 13 yr old liked, there is a vast range of books for children/young adults about. I have a 12 yr old daughter and she will read anything from The Spiderwick Chronicles to To Kill a Mockingbird. The Artemis Fowl books are excellent and a personal favourite of mine would be the Inkheart Trilogy.

The Girl of the Limberlost
biographies are interesting if you like non-fiction. I really liked reading about people, both past and present, to find out what made them tick, i.e. George Washington, Amelia Earhardt, Eric Clapton, etc. Louisa May Alcott is always good. I guess what I'd really suggest is to go to the library, go to the section that interests her, and starting at "A" being pulling books off the shelf and reading the summaries on the dust jackets. That's what I did and I found so many good books.

Just glancing at your library, MustasheMan, and I saw that you have the Twilight series books. I haven't actually read Stephanie Meyer, but if you like vampire fiction I'd recommend anything by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. She's a YA author and her books are also about modern-day vampires. In high school I was a huge fan of hers. Start with In the Forests of the Night and go from there.

I recommend The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, I loved it at the same age - and the movie is great as well with Maggie Smith!

As well as many of the above-mentioned, I read most of Agatha Christie's mysteries in my early teens. I loved them! Still do.

I would recommend the book The Secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd

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Louise Rennison is not a classic author, but her books are absolutely hilarious. I started reading them when I was 13 (they're aimed at that age and a bit older) and still get a kick out of them now, four years later. They're quick, easy reads, so if you're looking for something that's just fun, they're great.

I recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (and all it's sequels), the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony if you like fantasy, and the Ray Bradbury short story collections.

My soon-to-be 13 year old is reading and enjoying Pretties by Scott Westerfield. It's part of a trilogy (though there is a fourth book that is sort of related, so I'm told) that begins with Uglies, which is also wonderful...so I'm told. Welcome to Library Thing!

Let's see.. at 13 I was in my freshman year of high school so let me jump back to middle school age.

So at 11/12 I was reading The Mists of Avalon trilogy by Marion Zimmer Bradley (or at least it was only a trilogy back then -- don't know about now) and a lot of Terry Brooks and his Shannara series.

Then, my mom gifted me Les Miserables by Victor Hugo saying it would change my life. And that is exactly what it did! Ever since then I've been reading the classics.

At 13 I thoroughly enjoyed Bless me Ultima, Frankenstein, 1984, and All the Pretty Horses, all from English class. I was also getting into historical fiction like Hiroshima and All Quiet on the Western Front. I did not like Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility and am still not a Jane Austen fan although many LT readers swear by her works.

Basically, this is the age where you should challenge yourself to books you've never thought to read 'cause you never know if you'll like it or not. If you don't like Victor Hugo, try Balzac. Or try Tolstoy. Then, if you get a little tired of the classics read something a bit more contemporary and "young adult". You're bound to find something. :)

ETA: Wanted to mention that Jules Verne would be a good choice at this age as well. A classic but still seen as a "children's story".

I was assigned The Scarlet Letter in 9th grade (when I was 13) and I ended up absolutely loving it. In fact, though I'd always loved words, The Scarlet Letter might be the book that pushed me over the edge into quasi-obsession (with words, not with Hawthorne). Although the story is interesting, what most captivated me were Hawthorne's sentences. Each sentence seems painstakingly crafted. Not a single word or punctuation mark is wasted.

At 13 I went through a big Bronte phase espcially loved Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights seemed to either completely miss all the dark bits or blocked them from my mind, but I also loved the Sweet Valley High books and Cheerleaders series mainly cause it was the complete opposite of my Comprehensive in Cardiff where it rained every day!

How about Philip Pullman's books?

At 13 I went through a big Bronte phase espcially loved Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights seemed to either completely miss all the dark bits or blocked them from my mind, but I also loved the Sweet Valley High books and Cheerleaders series mainly cause it was the complete opposite of my Comprehensive in Cardiff where it rained every day!

How about Philip Pullman's books?

I loved Agatha Christieand the Brontes too.

I'll also recommend Daphne Du Maurier.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn for sure

and yes! Wuthering Heights, Emma such good reads.

I would recommend the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series- very well written and a great example of comraderie among young girls

I would recommend the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series- very well written and a great example of comraderie among young girls

#25 mckait

I second the recommendation of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It rates as a favourite of mine.

The Redwall series by Brian Jacques has always been a favorite of mine. The Cirque du Freak series (Darren Shan) is good for YA vampire fiction. Tamora Pierce is also good.

If you do indeed like classics (they didn't do much for me when I was younger and am still picky about them now), then three of my favorites are Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Jane Eyre.

EDIT: Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series is also good, and I've also really enjoyed reading Cornelia Funke's work.

I think we scared her off................

Hiya,

I recommend The star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson, if you like adventure stories.

Jen
xx
p.s: I am 14-1 year older than you. :)

Definitely To Kill a Mockingbird, simply a great book. Also Louisa May Alcott--I like her lesser known Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.

Agatha Christie is good if you like mysteries; there are lots of other series, e.g., the Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker.

Try Isaac Asimov--the Foundation series or the I, Robot stories. For fantasy, I'm a fan of both Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey, though for the story and characters rather than the writing. Still, The Dragonriders of Pern is one of my fondest memories of my introduction to fantasy writing.

Umm...I'm 18 now but I have always loved reading...I still read books for "your age" but really there is no age limit on books. The Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke is really good, The Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix, most definitely the Redwall series by Brian Jacques...if you don't like animals though, he always has another series 'Castaways of the Flying Dutchman'. 'The Lord of the Rings' is always pretty good...I'm sure you've seen the movie...so yeah there you go!

I really like the Percy Jackson series, The Lightning Thief and the others in the series. Liked Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Born to Rock, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I'm re-reading Judy Blume. I read The Giver over and over when I was 13.
Since you like Meg Cabot, have you read her Heather Wells series? Or anything by Sophie Kinsella?

Although I am a GROWN MAN (pause for embarrassed silence)...I am a fan of YA and teen fiction, so I may have some good suggestions:

Ember series by Jeanne DuPrau
Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke
the new Peter Pan books by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
May Bird series by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Leven Thumps series by Obert Skye
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley
Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer
Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull
Kiki Strike series by Kristen Miller
Gideon series by Linda Buckley-Archer
The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy
Bloody Jack series by L. A. Meyer
Artemis Fowl series by Eion Colfer
Tillerman series by Cynthia Voigt
Echo Falls series by Peter Abrahams
Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

Some of these have male protagonists, but they all have strong female characters as well. A few may be in the 9-12 recommended age range...I don't have them right in front of me to check.

I happen to have a 12 yo daughter, who is an avid reader. She actually logs all her book on my LT account.
I will second Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, she loved that series. She is just finishing the Uglies series, also a big winner for her. Mentioned already too, is Twilight. She has read Agatha Christie and enjoyed it. There is also The Clique series, Bras and Broomsticks, or 13 Little Blue Envelopes all got thumbs up.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, one of my favorite books when I was young girl. I just gave it to my granddaughter for Xmas, but I don't know if she's read it yet.

When I was 13, I really enjoyed the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, especially Mossflower.

So many things you could read. I'd recommend classics like Anne of Green Gables, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre. When I was your age I went into a big Thomas Hardy kick which may not be for everyone but I LOVED The Return of the Native.

For more modern books I'd recommend The Book Thief, Trouble Don't Last, or anything by Jasper Fforde (great comic/mystery stories that use book & nursery rhyme characters.)

i wasn't an avid reader at that age but i did love Terry Pratchett's stuff. the best of them is Good omens which he wrote with Neil Gaiman; i don't think it's YA but it's not a tough read and is funny as hell.

also i'd second 1984. i read that when i was 16 (and angry at the world in general) and i've never been the same since; in a good way -- i hope.

It depends on how much you like to read and what genres you like. Personally I would strongly recomend "Cry of the Icemark", or the Alex Rider series.